LexLasryQC

Speaker Profile

In a career spanning more than 30 years, Victorian barrister Lex Lasry, QC, has been involved in many high-profile and important legal proceedings. Admitted to practice in 1973, Mr Lasry was appointed Queens Counsel in 1990. In the decade that followed, he was engaged in a number of significant criminal cases, including matters involving murder, manslaughter, tax and welfare fraud and drug trafficking. In the early 90s, he was counsel assisting in a coronial inquiry into the fatal shooting of eight people by Victorian Police. Prior to 1990, Mr Lasry’s practice included the role of junior counsel assisting the Royal Commission into the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union, and he was counsel assisting the NCSC inquiry into the collapse of Rothwells Merchant Bank. In 1998 & 1999, he was involved in the trial of ANU law students Anu Singh and Madhavi Rao, who were charged with the murder of Singh’s boyfriend Joe Cinque. In 2000, Mr Lasry was appointed Royal Commissioner by the Victorian Government to inquire into the out-sourcing of the state’s ambulance telecommunications.

He returned to active practice at the Victorian Bar in March 2002, and since then has been involved in cases concerning criminal fraud, immigration, customs and espionage, including the high-profile trial of former Defence Intelligence Organisation staffer Simon Lappas. Sine March 2003, Mr Lasry has been acting as senior counsel assisting the coroner in relation to the Canberra bushfire disaster. He has been the chairman of the Victorian Criminal Bar Association since 2002 – the principal organisation representing criminal barristers in Victoria and the only association of its type in Australia.

Mr Lasry is also a member of the Council of the International Criminal Bar for counsel practising before the International Criminal Court.